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Thursday, August 25, 2011

Cream Style Corn-Canning Week

I finally got a pressure canner! I've been using a water bath canner for the last few years, which is great for fruits, but I was ready to expand my canning horizon, so I finally got one this year. Are you in the market for a pressure canner? Check out Pressure Cooker Outlet for some great deals!

Anyway, so now that I have this great new pressure canner, I'm ready to start canning some veggies. I'll admit it; the first time I used it, I was scared! I was sure the lid was going to explode and go flying, probably taking my head off in the process. I stood back as far as I could when taking the lid off, even though I waited over an hour after the pressure had gone back down to 0. Nothing exploded. Now, I'm pretty comfortable using it, but I still read the instructions every time!

Even though there's more than corn in Indiana, it's still one of my favorites. I'll warn you upfront, this is a very long process, but to open up a taste of summer all winter long will be worth it.

To begin, you'll need sweet corn, lots of sweet corn! 20 pounds of corn in the husk will make 9 pints. That's about 2/3 of a bushel. After making my rounds with my garden and my family's gardens, I came home with a carload of produce, including about 17 lbs of corn. (I had way more than what's in the picture, but you get the idea!)

First step is to clean the corn. So we have to remove the husks and all the silky strings. I found the easiest way to do it is to lay down some plastic on the floor and toss everything down. Then when you're done, all you have to do is pick up the plastic and toss it.

Next we need to cut the corn. Cut
kernel tips about 1/2 deep and scrape the cobs with the back of a knife to
remove the juice and the heart of the kernel.

Dump the cut kernels into a measure cup (so you know how much you
have) and then put the corn into a saucepan or pot. Add 1 cup of hot
water for each quart of corn. Heat the corn to boiling and simmer
5 minutes. While that's going on, get your jars and lids ready by heating them up, aka "hot pack" method. Next, fill up your quart size jars and leave an inch of headspace. Make sure you have enough liquid to cover the corn, add hot water if you don't have enough from your corn/water mixture. Make sure you remove any air bubbles using a plastic tool or a plastic knife. Wipe down the rims, add lids and rings and process. Corn takes 85 minutes at 10 lbs.

To process in a pressure canner, follow the instructions with your model. For my model, that means getting the canner hot until steam starts coming out. After the steam starts, I set a timer for 7 minutes. Then add the weight, for this recipe, on the 10 lb notch. Once my weight starts jiggling and making noise, I know it's up to 10 pounds. Then, I set the timer for 85 minutes.

When the time's up, turn off the heat and let it cool down until the gauge shows 0 lbs. Then remove weight. When you can easily unscrew the wing nuts, take off the lid. Remove jars and let cool for 24 hours.

What's your favorite vegetable to put away? Link up for canning recipe here and remember to vote for your favorite! Guest Judge Kate from the blog The
Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking will choose the linked up blog post with the best recipes, pictures and
overall write up and award a copy of her new book The Hip Girls Guide
to Homemaking. We also have a prize for the entry with the most "likes", so don't forget to vote for your favorite and recruit your friends to help you out!

To enter to win a Tshirt from Punk Domestics, enter Here To enter to win a Presto 7 Function Canning Kit from Pressure Cooker Outlet, enter HereTo enter to win 2 dozen reusable lids from Tattler, enter HereTo enter to win Pectin Mix from Pacific Pectin, enter Here (you can comment on ANY Canning Week post to qualify, either here or over at A Latte With Ott,A. Just remember to come back and fill out the Rafflecopter form)To enter to win a Canning Discover Kit from Ball, link up your canning post here, then remember to vote for your favorite. The post with the most votes wins (recruit your friends)Now hop on over and check out A Latte With Ott,A to see what she's canning today.